Coronacion Chiva (Commander Waling-waling) Regional Operational Command, NPA-Panay March 29, 2014The NPA in Panay, together with all the revolutionary forces in Panay, vows to persevere along the road of armed revolution on its 45th year. With weapons raised high, we swear unto death on the graves of our martyrs and heroes. We swear by the millions of people who continue to suffer the ravages of Typhoon Yolanda and abandoned by the Aquino regime. We swear by our people who were robbed of trillions by bureaucrat-capitalists which the Aquino regime continues to protecteven as itpursue its 'anti-corruption campaign' against opponents while monopolizing and expanding its own pork.

For all the regime's empty boasts of achievements, foremost would be his pimping the country away to foreign investment and the US military while engorging themselves on the bulk of the domestic product growth of 7%. It could even boast about capturing some of our leaders and buy out the MILF leadership to surrender but nothing would stop the revolutionary people's movement from giving the Aquino regime a taste of how the Marcoses were toppled from power.

Last March 15, 2014, Romeo Capalla, a legitimate businessman exporting organic muscovado sugar abroad so as to ensure a better price for small farmers and workers was gunned down in cold blood at the very doorstep of the police department of Otontown in Iloilo. Also, equipment and the small sugar mills supervised by Capallawere torched down in Janiuay town. His death splattered the Aquino regime's "human rights" facade for sanctioning of OplanBayanihan--a US-inspired counter-insurgency program which include selective neutralization of legal leaders of people's organization protesting against the regime. The US practiced this program in Vietnam and Latin America.

Capalla was only the latest of such extrajudicial killings. In July of 2010, Councilor Fernando Baldomero of LezoAklanwas assassinated becoming the first extrajudicial killing of the Aquino regime. Luisa Posa and NiloArado were forcibly abducted and disappeared in April 2007 under hispredecessor's failed anti-insurgency program, the OplanBantayLaya. Hundreds of other less known murders, tortures, rapes and enforced disappearances of common people were perpetrated by the same state security agents under the Aquino regime using the same practices that were instituted widely under the Martial Law regime of Marcos.

The fascist nature of the Aquino state apparatus became apparent when, under the chronic crisis of the Philippines, millions of people are becoming restive and tens of thousands victims of Supertyphoon Yolanda took to the streets including some 7000 in Panay. Millions of our people have seen that while they suffer constant want, their taxes were stolen in their name, in the guise of "relief and rehabilitation" and "aid to agriculture and the poor" and lined the pocket of most politicians.

In such a situation, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)'s call for surrender of the NPA could only fail to convince the Red Fighters to stand down. On the contrary, squads, platoon and companies of new recruits are coming to enlist in the NPA rolls. Tens of thousands would take to the streets to denounce and demand compensation from the regime or join the revolutionary underground. Brutal repression by the Aquino regime, even as he lamely denies it, will only hasten the trend.

On its 45th Anniversary, the NPA in Panay vows to implement the following task:

1. Heed the cry of the people for justice and launch a coordinated campaign of tactical offensives against the brutal state security apparatus primarily in and around the guerilla fronts and secondarily in the enemy's own areas of control. The NPA aims to seize the tactical initiative within the 301st Infantry Battalion's strategic campaign of encirclement and suppression by striking it with tactical offensives at any time and anywhere when the enemy operating troops least expect it.

Last year, the NPA has already achieved the capacity to coordinate a series of attacks on simultaneous military operation of the enemy in all major guerilla fronts. It has even developed the capacity to strike the commander of the paramilitary RPA-ABB, Demetrio Capilastique, in his own homeground surrounded by his own armed men.

The NPA has expanded its area of operation to two-thirds of the Madyaas range and hills facing the most populous areas of Panay and thereby widened its scope of operation by as much. The 301st Brigade and other military forces are spread thinly and are exhausted in operating as well as garrisoning its troops to defend its political centers and lines of communication.

The military intelligence 'dirty jobs' department of the regime resorted to assassination of Romeo Capalla to strike terror and intimidate the rising hungry people of Panay. On the very 59th anniversary of the expulsion of the cruel Japanese invaders, the regime's security agents unleashed its version of the Japanese Kempetai policy of "For every Japanese armed soldier killed by guerillas, ten civilians heads will be cut off by samurai." When the military intelligence armed agent Demetrio Capilastique of the surrendered RPA was ambushed by the NPA, Aquino's military establishment countered by killing the civilian Capalla and plans to follow this up with other civilian victims.

The Aquino regime forgot the historical lesson of the Japanese invasion and fascism or even the Marcos dictatorship: *For every martyr killed, hundreds and thousands will take their place along the road to liberation.*

During the funeral of Romeo Capalla, more than 5000 from all walks of life overflowed unto the Plaza from Leon's church, and 100 vehicle accompanied Romeo's body to his grave. Ten thousands more would march to the streets in the following weeks and months to demand justice. Thousands will also quietly join the underground movement to engage in revolution in a more direct way, to serve as the backbone of the underground movement against the Aquino regime and to assist the armed struggle in the countryside.

2. Hundreds of activists will seek a more direct road to justice and will enlist in the ranks of the full time guerillas. Hundreds more would join the local militia in the countryside barangays.

The NPA would most welcome the numerous new recruits and would complete the institution of a systematic recruitment process that would constantly replenish and strengthen the NPA ranks. Rest assured, the NPA ranks would cherish the new forces within their rank, take care of them until they are fully integrated as full time Red fighters.

3. The NPA will be redoubling its effort at being at the forefront of the people's struggle to rise from the ravages of typhoon Yolanda and the criminal inutility of the US-Aquino regime in the face of rampant poverty and hunger. In its area of operations the NPA will exert more effort in taking the lead in the reconstruction of people's lives, relying on the people's own capacity to rise from their destitution together with the people's provisional government.

The NPA would assist efforts towards the implementation of land reform, cultivation of idle landlord and public land, lowering or outright cancellation of interest for destroyed crops, raising of prices for farm produce and production drives.

Justice for Romeo Capalla and all other human rights victims will be exacted from a regime bent on pursuing its fascist agenda. Immediately, the investigation of the case has already begun and definite leads especially of those who were involved in casing Capallawere already identified. Thisin spite of the attempt of the military and police to find fall guys to divert attention from those actually responsible--aswith Baldomero's case.

It may take a while but your people's army never forgets. As we have declared, we may not be able to protect you as only a massive popular struggle and a solid underground movement could. But we could exact justicefrom those who were responsible in the end.

The overthrow of a hated dictatorial system, as Romeo Capalla and Fernando Baldomero attempted during Martial Law, was only the first step towards social justice. When they pursued their service to the people through bourgeois politics or legal business enterprise and be effective at that, while joining protest actions in a legal way as human rights advocates, the regime felt threatened and it would cut down some selected leaders to contain the rising people. Only by overthrowing the ruling system through armed means and popular risings would eliminate the fascism embedded in this system. These are the definitive lessons imparted to us by Romeo Capalla.

The NPA vows to take these lessons to heart, persevere in armed revolution inspite of difficulties, casualties and arrest of leaders. The people are now rising together with its people's army.